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sweden

I have always had a deep hankering for a longcase/Grandfather clock, along with my other favourite window seats there’s something intrinsically charming about them. Then recently I came across Swedish Mora Clocks. I’m not sure where I first became aware of them, but the winding internet path eventually bought me to Swedish Interior Design. Based in Brighton and run by the very helpful Jo and Madeline (quite the Renaissance couple – they are also involved in music, fashion and food) they specialise in importing Swedish furniture to the UK and in particular, or at least of particular interest to me, Mora Clocks.

Their home is a showcase for their style.

Mora clocks are named for a town in Sweden and as Jo explained come in all colours and sizes, with some having a dinstinctly more rustic feel and others suitable for the grandest houses in the city. Here are some images from their showroom.

This project has given Klaus much amusement as it’s so twee and apparently doesn’t fit with my image but I have been trying out a bit of embroidery for the first time. I bought some plain coasters from Zara in the sale and just started out.

To make it easier you can mark on the pattern or just doodle onto the material with a fabric pencil. I did have a starter book so I could work out some different stitches, but all the ones I have used are really easy.

I’ve done three and have one to finish. Since they are a bit slapdash they take no time at all, just an evening in front of the TV.

And here they are doing their thing with more flowers but this time the real thing.

In the back here you can see a new candle stick holder. It’s quite a clever one I bought in Stockholm which has the matches stored inside.

Once the matches are slotted in you can still strike a match on the side of the box. I think it’s pretty neat. A kind of matches version of those mugs you can get with a slot to put your biscuit in.

There’s no doubt these coasters are pretty cheesy but I’ve quite enjoyed working on them and it’s a very easy way to add a bit of interest to a cheap / bland piece of fabric.

I have an idea for a set of napkins and placemats with the faces of our most recent Prime Ministers on them, one on each. I haven’t started yet but I have collected some images so we’ll see if it works out.

I’ve just come back from a long weekend in Stockholm with some friends. I knew it would be a great design destination but we genuinely saw great style pretty much everywhere we went.

From neat touches just on the street.

To pretty much every cafe we went into.

These tiles are quite similar to some I had been considering for our bathroom but were ultimately too pricey.

It all felt very effortless as and though were you Swedish you just wouldn’t notice that much.

This picture was just in a clothes shop. I think it’s actually a photo printed onto chipboard, but I thought it was really effective. And probably not that hard to get done.

But what I really noticed was the range and options in terms of light fittings. They feel very very samey here sometimes but the following images are either lights from antique / second-hand shops or in cafes, restaurants and bars we went to.

We saw a lot in a similar style to the light fitting in our sitting room, which was pretty pleasing.

And if all that is a bit to tasteful how about an owl with glowing red eyes? I admit I was very tempted.

We didn’t really seek out any furniture or antique shops these were more ones we came by so I think it would be well worth another visit.

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